Confessors, Martyrs, and Apostates

We find these words in Hebrews 12: 1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…”  When you step into an Orthodox Church anywhere in the world you will step into the company of the “cloud of witnesses.”  Look all around…there are saints to be seen and to be encountered by their icons.  Also there may be present those saints who are unseen by us.   For example, near the conclusion of the clergy’s entrance prayers in preparation for each Divine Liturgy (which occur just before our entrance into the sanctuary), we bow to each other and ask for forgiveness from each other.  We bow to the faithful present, and even no one else is there, bow to those who may be present that cannot be seen.

St Anna holding Mary

The saints who surround us are not passive spectators.  They are active, and act for us, as they exist in Christ and act for him as servants, as they did while in this physical life.  I offer two examples I have recently experienced.  In October 2022  a wonder-working icon of St Anna (the mother of Mary, and grandmother of Jesus) was presented to the faithful at St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Tacoma, Washington.  After the completion of the akathist prayers, all venerated her icon.  During this month, I was burdened by the reassignment of my dear friend, Fr Seraphim Majmudar, to an Orthodox Church in California.  Upon my veneration of her icon, our Lord worked through her, and gave me release from the burden and grief regarding this upcoming event.  Then most recently, during Pentecost last week (June 23, 2024) at the same St Nicholas Orthodox Church,  the oil from the wonder-working icon of Mary called Panagia Pantassana (from Mt Athos’ Vatopedi Monastery) was applied to my very painful left knee (a meniscus tear?) by the parish’s new rector, Fr Anthony Cornett.  Within several hours the pain had greatly diminished, and remains so to this day.

Of the saints who are surrounding us by their icons, some were martyrs, some were confessors, and some had their holy lives ending in peace.  Regarding martyrs and confessors, we read this from Hebrews 11: 35 – 38:

…Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life.  Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated — of whom the world was not worthy — wandering over deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

We should also learn of martyrs from the period of the Maccabees.  During the evil reign of the evil Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes (a general of Alexander the Great), the Temple and Jerusalem were cruelly desecrated.  Gentile cults were established.  Many Jews capitulated and apostatized.  Thousands of others remained faithful and became martyrs or confessors, and others became national heroes.  Of martyrs of this era we find this in 1 Maccabees 1: 62 – 63:

But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food.  They chose rather to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die.

Moving to the twentieth century we have the brutal persecutions of the Soviet Union, and other communist countries, when and where thousands upon thousands became martyrs and confessors for their faith.  

However, persecution is not found only in the past and elsewhere.  We are not to think that we are, or will be, protected from persecution just because we live “in the West.”  Look around you, “the West” is on life support.  I can give examples from England.  A Catholic woman was very recently arrested because she prayed (quietly and peacefully) the Rosary in public.  Also, a man was arrested for reading the Bible (quietly and peacefully) on a park bench.  At home in America,  persecution is upon us, and gradually increasing month by month.  

I now present St Matthew 10: 32 – 33:

Therefore, whoever shall confess me before men, I also shall confess him before my Father who is in the Heavens.  But, whoever might deny me before men, I also shall deny him before my Father who is in the heavens.

In the the major litanies of the Divine Liturgy we find this prayer:  “For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger and necessity, let us pray to the Lord.”  We also pray;  “Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and keep / protect us by your grace.”  We don’t want a climate of persecution, trouble, or adversity because we may fail.  We may deny Christ in these situations.  Further, we cannot fantasize that we will bravely become confessors in our day of trial. Though we pray that overt trials, persecutions, etc., not come our way, yet small trials, testings, and troubles come our way daily.

We cannot think that we will confess Christ during a time of great testing if we cannot confess Christ in a far lesser setting of testing!  These lesser, mundane trials may come in the setting of family, work, traffic, school, or in the marketplace.  When such small trials come our way, how do we respond?  Do we confess Christ with joy, peace, prayer, blessing, and thanksgiving?  If so, this is the response of faith and of the Holy Spirit working in our lives.  If this is our choice and response, we CONFESS Christ!  Or, do we respond with anger, cursing, and frustration?  If so, this is the result of the corruption that still resides in us.  If this is our choice and response, we DENY Christ!

We always have the power to confess Christ.  Christ is in us, and we are in Christ — this is a relational union of God’s presence in us — and this is our salvation.  We must determine in advance how we will respond.  Our practice of smaller confessions will prepare us for true times of troubles.

Here is the text from Hebrews 12: 1 – 2:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Thus, his Life and Light are to prevail in our lives.  Hence, we are to confess Christ with kindness, patience, blessing, peace, and thanksgiving before all who witness these confessions of Christ.  We are to confess Christ that we too may be saints!

The following is the corresponding sermon:

In Christ whom we confess,

Fr Irenaeus